Groupon Rewards Expands to All U.S. Businesses

This week, Groupon’s loyalty program Groupon Rewards — which aims to improve customer retention — was made available to all U.S. businesses.

Previously the rewards program — which launched last September — was being piloted with a test marketing in Philadelphia. Groupon Rewards integrates with your Point of Sale system to offer a customer a special deal whenever a certain threshold is reached.

Through Groupon Rewards you’re able to offer rewards in the form of exclusive Groupons to loyal customers. You can set your own spending requirements and rewards. For example, customers that spend $55 can receive a free spa treatment.

Groupon Rewards is free for merchants; Groupon will take a commission from the reward vouchers. Additionally, the company does not require a merchant to run a regular daily deal in order to participate.

The company will automatically track consumer spending and will notify them when they’re eligible to redeem a reward. Its customer analytics will provide information on new and repeat customers, including how much is being spent and how frequently consumers visit your business.

According to CEO Andrew Mason, in the past two months, about 30 percent of merchants eligible to participate have signed up for Groupon Rewards. “Though the preliminary dataset is small, pilot results show that Groupon Rewards customers are more loyal than other customers,” said Mason.

Groupon believes that the addition of the new loyalty system will help drive repeat business instead of just attracting one-time visitors. It’s a crowded space, so it’s too early to tell how much success it will have. However, if you’re already taking advantage of Groupon’s deals, or interested in expanding your rewards offerings, then it might be worth looking into this program.

Jennifer Beese: Jennifer Beese has worked as a community manager and social media strategist. When she’s not writing, you can find her studying anatomy and physiology—she literally has a skeleton in her closet—or under the stars with her telescope.